Masked Eclipse
by Vanrei Hellionist
Summary: Owl finds his purpose. Sorry for the per-annum-update thing, it's not really intentional.
1. Tightening the Mask

**A/N:** Hello there, this is a fan fiction, read it ya? The plot is unknown till know.****

Chapter 1: Tightening the mask

The sky was dark that day. Standing below the heavens of Bootes was an orange haired boy. He was leaving home for a journey that he won't return from. He was excited yet quite uneasy on that day. The boy stepped on the waving grass in front of his home.

"It is time to say goodbye to my family" he muttered.

He let a squeak of sorrow as he departed from his house, his family and his life. His new home is where he stands on now. The ground. The home of a traveler. The only final frontier of a traveler. The only thing that can keep a traveler comfy when there is nowhere else to go. So he took a step forward, step by step, towards the hunting grounds. The start of his journey, the journey that promises him a life time of hope and misery.

It started to rain quite heavily. Feeling the first drop on his teenage cheeks. He sighed as he walked towards the training ground. It was not what he has hoped for as he glared across the field full of monsters. Just some snails and a few big mushrooms. Nothing he can do now. So he then took out the sword from his medium-sized pouch and started stabbing snails to death. He trained for at least 15 minutes and has started to feel his own soul and stamina getting stronger and stronger. It was strange.

"I guess I just gained a level! Now I'm level 2!" said the hyped boy happily.

"I guess for now it is for me to keep training and training" he said as he started to ready his sword for another strike of death.

The cold rain was getting to the boy. He started shriveling and he felt his movement became limited. Half an hour later he started to sneeze, but yet, he continued training with determination. He felt as if nothing can stand in his way.

"Nothing" he said to himself in the cold rain.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain all over his abdomen, the boy felt like crippling into a ball. The pain was incredible.

"Somebody has given me a godly blow to the back" he said slightly joking as he moaned in pain.

He turned around quickly as his knees knelt on the floor. It was a kid with blond hair, staring at him with a wide, fake smile.

"Oops" the kid said sarcastically.

Giving the wounded boy a laugh of cruelty, the angry boy staggered across the field to an abandoned shack. What he saw in the eye of the crazy kid was rage wide as the heavens and a fury that was fairly disturbing. Something that he really never seen before, ever. His body felt uneasy as he went across the cold, wet field. He felt very angry.

"What kind of maniac would stab people in the back?!" he said angrily in his mind.

"I felt like dying as this is not going to be the last bad encounter I am going to have" he said as he popped himself inside the shack.

As he rested inside the shack, a mushroom big as him was inside who popped out from a dark corner. He can't stand it anymore. It was a fairly bad day enough and this thing just popped out of nowhere. He forcefully pulled out the sword from his pouch creating a slight tear and stabbed the mushroom right in between its eyes. It died instantly. He felt he was leveling again, or in other words he have reached level 3. He felt he can rest easy now. The pain was gone from his back. The lump that he felt before when the maniac boy gave him a blow was gone. It was an incredible moment; it was rare for someone to get fully healed after leveling.

Some people leveled and never get healed, some people gained very high levels and never ever once felt the very astonishing powers of the 'Leveling heal'. I was a lucky one, he thought to himself. Whether he will or will not get this moment again of getting healed all of his injuries is for now unknown to him.

"Now all I need is a good rest from what just have happened" as he lay down on the cold wooden floor. Curling up in a ball as he started to get into a deep sleep.

An hour later, he woke up. The rain just stopped and the field began to dry. He felt ready to start his training again. But something didn't felt right.

"My face feels itchy" he muttered.

"My vision… It seems to have narrowed…" he muttered again.

He thought it was because of sleeping in this very old shack, has some weird effects, but he was dead wrong. As soon as he grabbed hold of his pouch, he went out of the forsaken shack. Wiping away the dust that stained his clothes, he heard someone shouting in excitement.

"Cool!" said a little boy, looks smaller than him and looks a bit too much hyped.

The boy went near him and said "Where did you get that awesome mask!?"

"Mask? What mask? I don't know what you are talking about" said the confused boy

Suddenly he realized something.

"My vision, why is it still narrowed..? By now I should have seen clearly" he muttered to himself in a low voice.

Then he touched my face. He didn't feel his hand touching his face, instead he felt something different, completely different. On the external part of his face, it was something cold and it was clinging onto his face. It was a mask. The mask had the shape of the face of an owl, the mask had big owl eyes which were mildly decorated with big black round spots on the perimeter of the eye and the pupil was painted darkish orange, inside the pupil was painted black with a fat white dot.

"What kind of cheap trickery is this?! Someone must have put this mask on my face when I was sleeping!" he thought to himself.

The boy then asked him again, but this time in a mild voice.

"I don't know" he said.

And as quick as he can go, he ran away from the spot. The boy was standing there, looking at him as he ran down the training ground. The little boy then continued training wishing to own that very cool owl mask, while our orange haired boy ran towards the village Amherst. Faces all looking at him, questioning in their heads "Why is he wearing that mask?" Looking as if he was an escaped half-man half-owl from a freak show. He didn't care much. He just wanted to get to the chief's house as quickly as possible, hoping the wise chief has the answer to this mystery. He opened the door as he arrived at the door step. The chief wasn't there, so he went behind the chief's house. Behind the house was a wide field of very ripe tomatoes.

"In between the field, there must be the chief!" he said to himself in his thrashed mind.

He started searching after he scanned the area from top of the hill for the god-knows-where chief of Amherst. He ran row by row as the tomatoes became a blur line of brick red, his scrawny little legs were at their maximum speed. He gained enough momentum fast enough to run past 9 rows of tomatoes in a minute. Suddenly he saw a man with a very old bamboo hat. The man was working on a tomato bush.

He was plucking out the tomatoes one by one. He thought to himself, this must be the chief. The owl boy ran towards the chief, the speed was incredible but it didn't last long. He stumbled onto the ground painfully as he did a forced-somersault in the air. His foot accidentally kicked a rock and there he was, lying on the ground.

"Didn't know stumbling because of a rock was this painful" he said jokingly.

His vision became blurry, barely seeing the figure of the old man as the old man approached him. After that all he saw was total darkness. Darkness was something he was really afraid about. He rather date a Malady than sit in a dark room. While thinking in his sleep, he dreamt something. Something awful. Something he will never forget, something that will haunt his life, forever.

_I was standing on a very dead field of land. No grass or even a tree. And there was this very thick fog moving furiously to the left. I felt as if I was watching something fast forward. And so a distorted figure suddenly formed very far from where I stand. "Hello boy" the figure said as it neared me. I can't tell what I saw. The image of the figure was really blurry but I can tell it was black. Its voice sent a chill down my body. I felt my body numbing. It felt very cold in this dream, as if it was real. Strangely when the figure approached, I felt even colder._

"_I am something you know, you think I'm something bad" it said. Its voice was very calm._

_ The cold became warmth for a few seconds as a very darkish red wind washed over me. _

"_I am something that will give you fear, despair, coldness, hatred, loneliness, sorrow and only once, hope" it said as it image fades away._

"_I am the thing that will ruin your life, but I am also thing that will rebuild it" it said again._

"_I am the mask, dear boy" it said, this time its image completely fading away._

_ I didn't know what to do, I just stood there._

_Suddenly, all of a sudden, screams of terror and the ground turned red and the wind, dark as the night. I put my hands over my ears very tightly, but still I heard the screams. It dug into my ears, getting louder and louder as if trying to get into my very own soul and rip it apart and stomp it to the ground. My eyes bulged as my body shook like a man on fire. I thought I was going to die deaf and my body stiff. I can't take it anymore! I said. _

Suddenly the horrified boy woke up. He was in a very old bed, creaking away as he raised his body. He was surprised he was alive. He was taking deep, long breaths. _I thought the dream I just had was a glimpse of Hell_, he said. He felt very relieved. His body was drowned with sweat. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. When he turned to his right, who he saw was the old man who was at the field. It was no doubt the chief of Amherst. He was a very old man with blond hair with a beard connecting to his mustache. His face has a very-wise-old-man kind of look. But beneath his very humble face his eyes had shown owl boy a very surprised look.

"How do you feel?" said the chief. Owl boy didn't respond. He just dug his head into the pillow, facing upwards toward the ceiling. Staring blankly into space. Thinking about that very horrible dream.

"I see" said the old man.

I guess he knew that the orange haired, owl mask boy just had a really bad day. The old guy then walked towards the exit, taking step by step as his age didn't allow him to walk properly.

Before he was out he said "You showed a great amount of dexterity when you were running in my tomato field".

What he said just snapped the boy from his blank stare towards the ceiling. He then listened to what he has to say.

"You run very fast for a boy your age. I think you would succeed in glory in your journey" said the blond chief as he departed from the room.

The boy thought to himself. "I run very fast?" he said silently in my mind.

Even though the chief has given him a slight praise, he didn't feel any better because of that horrible dream. He then continued lay down in the old bed, just staring again, as if his whole life just ended there. A few minutes later the chief called him to come down. I slowly got out of the bed, taking my pouch which was left on the table near a badly kept wardrobe. It felt slightly heavy. I then took a look into the pouch, and I saw fruit knife. My mood became slightly better; at least I was smiling for a moment.

I then came down from the stairway. I saw the chief reading a book. The title of the book was fairly scratched; all I can were the letters 'G' and 'N'. I started to sit down near the chief. There was a few minutes of silence.

"So, where did you get that owl mask, boy?" the old chief said.

"I don't know!" the boy shouted.

The chief was startled. He immediately patted the boy's shoulder to calm him down.

"Please child, don't get angry, I'm just asking where did you get this unusual mask?" He said in a very calming voice.

The boy behind the mask was lost in words, he didn't know what to say. He was feeling really uncomfortable. How did this forsaken mask grabbed hold of this boy's face? He just didn't know. Suddenly he realized something, that dream. That nightmarish dream. "I am the owl mask, boy". That sentence, the distorted image said that. The sentence keep spinning in the boy's mind. His face was in horror but it got completely filtered by that very expressionless mask. _Will this mask cling to me forever?_ he asked himself. Thinking to himself, his expressions, completely cut-off. Whatever he is in, the world will never know, because of this forsaken mask. It was actually pretty scary to think for it for a moment. _Just this mask. Nothing more, nothing less._

And so, he left the house in an instant. His feet gaining momentum again, dashing at full speed. Not a word of goodbye to the chief. He didn't look back. He just went head on, towards the crowd of people. When he came near them, they said "Freak!", "Owl face!", "Clown!" and a lot more. It sucked being the odd one. Everyone kept their distance as he went towards the hunting ground. More and more insults came in his way, certainly the most horrible day ever. 4 hours later he came out of the hunting ground, having reaching the sixth level of his training, or in slang 'level 6'. He decided to pull out his 'Relaxer' chair from his 2nd pouch that he just bought. Sitting on a chair during a warm weather like this really made his mood better. His soul was a distant place for a moment, calm and peaceful, blocking everything from the physical plane, he was like in a coma.

Until some bully came and smashed his head with a wooden club. The meditating boy woke up from his OBE and started to curse furiously. The boy with the club just laughed cruelly as he strike the boy another blow of his blood stained club. A 3-hit combo. Lightning fast and effective in pissing someone off. And so the angry owl started to stab the other boy. Blood leaking from his wounds, he would be stupid if he didn't know he has lost the battle of random violence.

" I see…w-we meet ag-again…" said the finely stabbed boy. It was that maniac kid from which the owl boy he has encountered in past.

"You" said the owl boy coldly.

"I'm taking you to the medic." he said again, and still very coldly.

So owl boy knocks off the psycho kid's feet and grabbed his two legs. Dragging him like a dead corpse. Half-way, the psycho passed out as he muttered some barely understandable words. It seemed like a crazy day and it was his first day on the field. He felt oddly disheartened because of his very random encounters. Random violence, a life time of doom and the strange smell of dust on the mask. He felt crazy already when he reached the local doctor and saw the wall-clock. It showed a very sharp 4pm. So he left the bleeding boy there and politely knocked on the door. He ran away, this time with a great timing as he almost accidentally hit a big rock.

He started developing a very cold and depressing attitude, he didn't suit well with the diabolical owl mask. He felt very down for a period of time. He kept wandering around Amherst, but not for the attention of course. He kept giving a stare at a group of people and they would flee or back away slowly, they see him as if he was a frightening monster. He didn't like that kind of reputation. Soon it was 7.30 o' clock. Everyone who had been training since the start of dawn was exhausted and could faint any second now. Everyone was finding a place to sleep. They usually sleep in large numbers to prevent anyone from getting hurt from anyone or anything. Owl boy here was a different story. While more than half of the community was asleep. He kept lingering in the darkness.

"This mask is pretty handy." he said.

He was seeing his surroundings. He saw a grasshopper jumped, a snail hiding between some rocks and a tree twig fallen off from a branch. The mask gave him the powers to see in the dark, quite useless but at least it wasn't any regular demonic mask. He stared in awe as if he saw the world in a new vision. Suddenly he noticed something, he heard some footsteps behind him. When he turned to his back, he saw nothing. Quite not impressed by this silly trick, he made a wild guess.

"Psycho boy, is that you?" he questioned.

"Thaaaaaaaat's me!" said a voice in a very disturbing tone.

It was confirmed, chopped and signed. It was that psycho and demented maniac boy. The boy staggered to get in-line of the owl boy's vision. Owl boy got provoked as he took out his fruit knife, doing some tricks to make his hand rise in momentum. Eventually, he got the hang of his fruit knife and started to hum to some action-themed music from a movie he watched some time ago. The demented boy was coming in his way. How could he even fight in this condition?! Unarmed and injured. He must be a professional at being crazy!

"Show yourself." said the owl boy, ready for any possible scenario.

" Don't be stupid. I know you can see me with that mask." said the demented boy.

He staggered in front of our hero and bam! He was lying on the ground again. But this time not bleeding, just a big bruise in the head. It looked all unreal. The owl boy then hid his knife in his pouch, and this time, leaving the boy there. It was a second of non-existent glory for the owl boy as he walked lazily to a nearby bush and sleep on its so-to-believed "comfy" perimeter. He was ready to hit the sack, ready to get a good day's rest, ready to well, basically sleep. It was a long day of randomness.

The next morning, he woke up. Drowsy and very fragile to any physical disturbance. He stretched his body and was ready to start the day. This time, he didn't woke up out of a very comfy bed with the smell of baked beans, eggs and pancakes, instead out of a thorny bush, and the smell of urine was in the air. He didn't care about the smell and started hunting for some food. It was man VS beast. He was eyeing on a small Shroom for a long time now. He carefully took out his fruit knife and a swift uppercut was seen. The Shroom fell with a barely noticeable thud. Soon he collected a dozen of those little critters and started to burn them on an open fire that he just created using sticks and stones.

They tasted horrible! It was a combination of burnt toast and sour milk. Yuck was the word ringing in his ears now. He felt he wasted some very valuable time. The time collecting those Shrooms could have been used wisely on eating some berries on a bush! Yet he didn't care and ate half of it. He might have puked, but he has a strong stomach. Soon, he started to search for his pouch in the bush he slept on. His arm was full of thorns, yet when he slept, he didn't even felt the slightest hint of a sharp object. He got ahold of his pouch and was ready to go to start the day.

A moment later, before he left the site, he heard a growling noise behind a tree. He felt suspicious. He approached the tree with caution. He then jumped behind the tree and saw a starving traveler at his knees. The traveler's head was covered with a hood, must be some cold-sensitive person, he thought. He then tapped lightly on the shoulder of the barely moving traveler. Then, owl boy saw it, it was a she. It was a she, when she lifted her head up, the hood flipped back.

She looked oddly familiar yet he can't ring a bell who the hoot could she be. Her response was almost unreal when she saw owl boy. She quickly hit his nuts. A divine smack to the nuts keeps the blood pumping.

"Ouch…" moaned owl boy. He was in the worst kind of pain.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" she said, in a very oh-god-what-have-I-done voice.

She quickly raised to her feet and raised the 'severely" injured boy. And then, he then walked away from her and to the almost lit-out fire. He grabbed a pointy stick and stabbed a dead Shroom.

"Want some breakfast?" he said

"Uh…sure, I'm Seiruu." she said.

" What's yours?"

"Just call me Owl." he said, as he quickly restored the open fire.

**A/N**: I know it is kind of bland, the plot is still in working though. So yeah...count this as a pilot episode.

Edit: I decided to change the name of the female that Owl met and use it later in the story.


	2. The Engraving Of A Scarred Insignia

**A/N:** Dang, I don't have much time to do a lot of writing, homework and what not. Anyway, I hope you all will like the non-canon stuff, super noobs with ninja kung fu skills, penetrating the defense of an elite beast and et cetera.

"Owl." she said.

"That's a pretty strange name."

She was munching off the cap of the small mushroom. Her face cannot hide the disgust of the horrible taste yet she ate it like it was natural. Her hair dark mane hair was at arm's length. She sat pretty close to Owl, he didn't like it much. He moved to a farther position from her without a word.

'Not comfy?" she teased.

"Yes, I'm not." he said as he sat near the fire.

As she finished her meal, she got back up and started to walk off. Owl soon followed behind, thinking it's natural to follow somebody he just met. They walked towards Amherst. A lot of people were staring at Owl. An insult was heard. Owl didn't care. He just walked off with Seiruu. They reached a place. It was very far from the chief's house. It looked like a very dangerous hunting ground. Spikes and thorns were everywhere. Seiruu then took out her sword. She started killing pigs and mushrooms.

"This is the dangerous part of the forest, make yourself at home." said Seiruu slightly joking.

Owl took out his fruit knife. He was still level 6 so he started killing these die hard monsters. They were really hard to kill. Big fat mushrooms surrounded them both as two or three pigs jumped around among the army of mushrooms. Owl felt a slight sense of discomfort. He knew something horrible is going to happen. Everything and everyone there was silent. A few spectators watched from a very safe distance. As Owl and Seiruu gained nervous tension. The first leap of a mushroom is heard. And soon every single mushroom surrounding them both started to jump.

"They are trying to attack us. Wait for the moment and strike for the kill, understand?" said Seiruu.

Obviously she was some sort of monster-expert. She sweated a bit as the mushrooms jumped higher and higher. Suddenly, when a single mushroom jumped, it landed and an enormous thud is heard. It landed directly in front of Owl. Owl was startled but was quick enough to do a horizontal slash on the mushroom, it died instantly. Soon every single mushroom jumped towards Seiruu and Owl. It was time to train.

Owl was quick and swift his blades matched his every move as he slashed a few mushrooms in a couple of seconds. Seiruu was different; she was standing like a stone monument with an epic pose. She waited for one mushroom as it neared her. When it got into her slashing distance, she stabbed it with force. It was not seen but it was felt. The mushroom died dramatically as it landed on its back. Soon a lot of mushrooms came towards Seiruu, back, front, left and right. The mushrooms were everywhere. She didn't move her eyes as she was in a some sort of deep meditation. As the mushrooms approached her, her right arm danced like a snake with fury.

Her arm moved like a rapid bullet hitting its every target, her slashes was barely visible. She didn't move her legs or even her head to turn and face the enemy. Her hand was like a living creature moving on its on. This almost made Owl a bit disturbed. He can't be off-guard as this would lose his fast paced rhythm. His strikes were somehow fast too. When there was one mushroom he would do a slash, when there were two he would launch himself into the air, maintaining a vertical position of his body and spin as fast as he could. He would fall to the ground and raise his body with both of his hands very fast. Since he discovered he can move fast, he decided to try some experimental moves, it awed the crowd behind him. The slash looked brilliantly fancy but it actually didn't hurt the mushrooms much.

And as he hit the ground he rose to his feet and the mushroom jumped high into the air. He looked, the mushroom was targeting for his head, if the thing succeeded in landing on his head, it would break it and the victim will die, instantly. These mushrooms were no child's play. And so the mushroom is a few seconds away to giving its ultimatum move. Owl was running out of time. He did something quite straight but it would hurt his neck a lot in the future. He grabbed his fruit knife with both hands and quickly rested upon his fore head. Gripping it tightly on his owl mask as the mushroom landed. Oozes of liquid which actually was the mushroom's fat came out. Owl was disgusted but his heart was rushed with adrenaline.

Both of them finished the rest of the mushrooms off. The other mushrooms that were just standing there squinting for no reason had a chill of fear run up their mushroom caps. The things bounced away, away from the dead zone. Owl and Seiruu looked like an unstoppable duo. The two got cheered by a crowd of spectators from a far distance. The crowd was awed as they neared the two and gave a very fan boy or fan girl-ish looks. Some even took the mushrooms caps off the dead mushrooms and ran off. Owl and Seiruu then walked away, feeling quite pleased with themselves for killing the deadly monsters.

"One hell of a rush." said Owl happily, he gave a warm smile but obviously Seiruu didn't saw it.

"Yes it is!" she said, sounding more happy and excited by the moment.

"My neck feels like fragile glass. The impact of that mushroom was pretty hard." said Owl as his palm reached for his neck.

Soon, Owl and Seiruu then went deeper into the forest, still feeling the rush of adrenaline. They saw many deadly mushrooms charging towards ahead them. They gave a sigh as those mushrooms approached, walking rather naturally, as if they weren't in danger at all. The mushrooms approached, Owl gave a slash between its eyes, the other mushroom that approached them got a stab in between the eyes. They still walked naturally, as if showing that they're much, much powerful than the other people on Maple Island. Soon they leveled, after a dozen of mushrooms have been slain.

"Finally level 7." said Owl.

"Finally level 9." said Seiruu.

'Oh, leaving your partner behind?" said Owl as he gave a laugh.

"Naw, we're gonna meet at Victoria Island anyway. It's kinda inevitable." replied Seiruu.

"Have you ever wondered why does the Wisemen says we need to be level 10 to pick a class?" asked Owl.

"Nope, it is just basic training. They want us to be used with the real surroundings on the field. Imagine a level 1 person taking their Job Advancement. They'll drop dead at the first sight of a snail." said Seiruu.

Owl nodded in knowledge. They both continued training, with determination to reach their goal which is becoming the best of the best. They both trained in the cold harsh weather as it soon started to rain. They were like real travelers. Killing with no other intention other than to gain a level, to become the best, to dominate in their on class, to become a real Wiseman. They were killing with no mercy, eyes filled with boredom as they hacked and slashed their way to exterminate the race of mushrooms. Out of nowhere a pebble was thrown, it hit Seiruu's head. She became infuriated as it disturbed her and she was on her full momentum.

"Who threw that?!." said Seiruu, her voice filled with rage.

"I did." said a young, blond boy with a mace. A level 10 mace.

Seiruu stared at the blond boy. Focusing on the boy's mace. She then faced the enemy. Giving a little sound that sounded like a growl, her eyes turning from the beautiful innocent eyes, to a pair of eyes that looks like Hell's creation. The boy was startled.

"What do you want!?" shouted Seiruu, still giving him the stare that could almost wound a person mentally.

"Your stare isn't scaring me (which obviously isn't true) bitch." said the blond boy arrogantly.

Calling her a bitch wasn't the best thing to do. A 14 year old that looks exactly like a saint (or so she think she looks like) seriously was a very bad idea. Her eyes illuminated with anger. Her eyes turned into a pale red as she ran towards the blond with an unseen aura that feels tremendously huge and filled with excitement and fury. They started fighting. The blond tried to parry her vertical slash but the impact was too powerful, he was knock-backed to his feet. Seiruu laughed as she approached the blond. Seiruu pointed her sword at his face, and then gently pushed it in front of his forehead. The blond boy was trying to say something but was too locked-up in his fear, his new-found enemy, Seiruu, the soon-to-be Warrior.

"You might have gotten that fancy mace from a pitiful mushroom but that doesn't freaking mean you're the 'Million-Meso' fighter of Maple Island." shouted Seiruu. This time she lost her mind.

"I haven't killed anyone before, maybe I level if I killed a pathetic runt like you." whispered Seiruu into his ear.

Owl stared at awe as Seiruu did the final blow that ended the blond boy's life. He was dead. A red aura emerged beneath Seiruu's feet rather than the blue aura, as it quickly rose up into the air, higher than usual. She was now level 10. She gave a disturbing look at Owl as she neared him.

"Shush, nobody needs to know about this." whispered Seiruu into Owl's ear, almost seductively.

She searched the dead boy's pouch only to find a couple of swords. She then took the two swords and eyed at a couple of red-shelled snails. She then threw the swords with great force and two squeals was heard, two barely noticeable squeals. The swords pushed right through the red exterior of the two snails and furthermore the sword's tip dug into the ground. Owl was still looking at the dead boy as his body dematerialized in front of Owl. Owl took a closer look. He was shocked. It was that crazy boy he met before, Owl didn't have the guts to finish this boy before, but Seiruu did.

Owl now was thinking would he pity the boy or feel pleased that the troublemaker finally met his match. He didn't know. When Owl was deep into his thoughts the body disappeared fully. Owl snapped out of his deep thinking as he no longer saw the body. He looked around, to search for Seiruu. She was nowhere near the area. Owl felt uneasy, thinking he should just forget everything about Seiruu and acted nothing has happened. He can't, he kept thinking about her badly-decided act. Owl then ran to South Perry, hoping to see Seiruu there.

Owl ran and ran. He finally reached South Perry with no interruption at all. He saw lined-up trying to board the ship. She was like 20 meters away from Owl. Owl ran and quickly tapped Seiruu on the shoulder.

'Seiruu, what are you doing?" said Owl.

"I'm leaving, isn't that obvious." said Seiruu, not even facing Owl.

'You can't just leave… We need to talk about-" said Owl before quickly getting interrupted Seiruu.

This time Seiruu faced Owl. Her stare was, dreadful. It looked like she didn't slept for the few days and her eyes turned to crimson red. Even though Owl and Seiruu met just this morning, he felt as if he knew her for a long time. She didn't looked right, she looked like a person fuelled by desire. Bad desires.

'But what, Owl?!" shouted Seiruu. A long line of eager travelers trying to board the ship looked at the direction of Owl and Seiruu.

"Don't try to change my mind, I'm one of a kind, Owl." said Seiruu as she turned away and boarded the ship with the rest of the passengers.

Owl didn't know what to say, even if he did, it was too late now. The ship went off as happy faces cheered the passengers leaving for Maple Island. Owl was confused what Seiruu just said. He thought it probably was a way of saying "I don't bloody care what the hell your opinion is" in Seiruu's terms. Owl then left South Perry with his hand grabbing his sword out of the pouch. He started to train, as usual. Owl trained to let his mind be at peace and really, really forget all about Seiruu. A few hours passed and Owl had almost forgotten Seiruu until he was interrupted by someone.

"Hi!" shouted a boy. The boy shouted directly in his ear.

Owl fell off-balance and landed the ground on his side. Owl was startled. He then turned to face the boy. It was the boy who he met when he first came out of that old shack. This time the boy seemed to have gained some levels and probably some immaturity, judging by the way he 'greeted' Owl.

"Hi Mushroom Slayer! It's me! That boy you talked to yesterday!" said the boy in a very excited voice.

"'Mushroom Slayer'?" questioned Owl.

"Uhuh. You killed those bad mushrooms with your awesome knife! It was so cool! I saw it too! People soon started calling you and your girlfriend the 'Mushroom Slayers'! By the way my name is Drackmin Einfernal!" said

"She is not my girlfriend." said Owl defending himself.

"By the way, it is a pleasure to meet you, Drackmin. My name's Owl." introduced Owl.

"And please, don't greet with shouting in my ear, kay?"

Drackmin nodded in agreement. Soon Drackmin followed everywhere Owl go. Owl was frustrated but in his mind he was glad to find a new training partner. Owl went off to the forest that was filled with mushrooms, until he became the Terminator and killed more faster than the mushrooms can breed. He started to kill as usual, Drackmin followed. Drackmin wasn't as strong as Seiruu but his witty movements and dramatic dodging make up for his weak offense. He can leapfrog a mushroom and at the same time stab its orange cap. It wouldn't die until Drackmin does a few, usually two or three slashes of his sword.

Time passed very fast. It was now night time at Maple Island. Owl and Drackmin had gathered enough spoils to buy themselves a single piece of armor. Delighted by their small amount of Mesos, Owl and Drackmin started to gather some firewood and create a fire to warm their bodies from the cold wind. Drackmin didn't exactly created a fire, more of an inferno. Drackmin collected a lot of firewood that can burn a field the size of the Chief's tomato filed down. And so Drackmin lit up the firewood, it was a large fire and it made them sweat a bit. Some other pack of travelers came and sat near the nice, warm and slightly hot fire.

"Today wasn't very exciting." said Owl in a bored voice. He tried to lay down but his ass wouldn't stop moving. He's been itchy ever since Drackmin joined his hunting party.

"I know…" said Drackmin, this time his voice sounding casual and not-so annoying. Drackmin sat near the warm fire, in face a bit too close as his pouch started to lit a small, harmless fire.

Owl then walked into the woods. He was heading towards Amherst. Drackmin fell asleep as Owl's shadow faded into the darkness. Owl wasn't the most alert person, a dozen pair of eyes were staring at him, a dozen pair of little eyes.

_Time for practice._

"Who said that?" asked Owl.

_Me. Get ready, there's a lot of mushrooms heading your way._

Owl didn't think, he just followed what the voice said. He was on-guard. It was surprising but obvious that a small pack of mushrooms ambushed. Owl just killed them all. One by one vanished from the land of the living. Scars of the final blow were on the mushrooms as more of the somehow organized ambush party came. Owl was like a god out of a womb. He was quick in dealing blows between the eyes and slashing the whole bodies of those mushrooms vertically was his specialty. More than 50 of those damn mushrooms came.

Finally, all of them were killed. Owl laid on the ground, exhausted.

"Who…are…you…" panted Owl.

"And how the hell do I kill you?" said Owl, smirking behind the mask, his panting sensation gone.

_Silly boy. This is your mask speaking._ _You killed those mushrooms hastily. Wanna know why? Because I grant you an incredible whist of stamina, swiftness, intellect and some luck._

Those few sentences were not heard by Owl as he passed out on the forest floor. His body emitted a blue glow as it rose up the sky. He leveled. Suddenly, Owl woke up, just a few seconds before he passed out.

"Huh? I leveled" said Owl curiously.

_You crushed a snail when you passed out, idiot._

"Oh, awesome." said Owl as he stand up to his feet.

Owl's surprise was short lived. An alarm siren rang through the forest. It came from Amherst. Owl then just followed the sound as he arrived at Amherst shortly. There was a large group of people gathering near the Chief's house. Owl approached the house as the people backed away from the masked boy. When he got to the center of the group, the Chief was giving a speech.

" Everyone, we have a big problem somebody…" was the final words the chief spoke as a large explosion erupted.

Everyone was severely injured while the Chief was near to death. Owl was not affected by the blast but he was knocked away from the group. Suddenly another blast came, this time near the weapon shop. Owl realized that the blast came from above. It was coming from a black figure that which he can't describe. He then ran towards the Chief as he was nearing to the end. The Chief spoke a few words.

"Boy…get…to… the ship…" said the Chief as his final breath was drawn from his lifeless body.

Owl did not gave away his emotions. He was in sorrow but he followed what the Chief said. He ran quickly towards to South Perry as the once beautiful Amherst turned to a large burning inferno, all due to the figure, high up in the skies. Another blast and another, it did not stop. Owl was reaching South Perry as a large group of people were boarding the ship. Owl was in a quick hurry so he skipped the crowd and jumped on the ship. The ship took off at the same time Owl managed to get on. The other batch of people were locked by their fate. Death.

"Poor people." said Owl pitifully.

It was a dark night and the moon was nowhere to be in sight. It made the night rumble with screams and shrills of horror. The complete panic made some people almost fell off the ship. Owl was shocked with what just happened. He didn't think this would be coming in his life, ever. When Owl gave a single sigh, something worse happened with his trip to Lith Harbor. The black figure he saw when the town of Amherst was in flames was right there, behind the ship. The black figure that Owl saw before was now trying to attack Captain Shank's ship with full force. The black figure was a large fleet that had over 2 dozen cannons, from the point of view of Owl, they looked like it was emitting a dark and cold aura.

The battle fleet made the ship Owl was on, a burning fireball with screams of terror. The ship started to fell off course and plunging into the deep ocean. The force of the extreme wind made everyone held tight to a disintegrating piece of wood. Owl was different. He was flung off the ship when he lost his grip of a small pillar on the side of the ship. He was spinning so fast that it almost made him unconscious. Out of nowhere, a figure came out suddenly from thin air.

"You're coming with me." it said.

It took away Owl as it teleported. Deep inside a vessel of invincibility, Owl was regaining his senses. That sudden lost of grip almost made Owl cost his life.

"Hello Owl." said a voice.

Four figures came out from the shadows. It was the 4 Wisemen of Victoria. Everyone was there, Dances With Balrogs, Athena Pierce, Grendel the Really Old and the Dark Lord.

"Owl, we gotta make this quick, what do you want to be?" said Dark Lord.

" The people on the ship you were on is in danger, choose your job wisely." said Grendel the Really Old.

Owl was left speechless.

"Are you crazy? I'm only level eight!" shouted Owl.

" Owl, let's get this straight, you're a special person, you get to pick your job early okay?" said Dances With Balrogs.

" Owl we have no time." said Athena Pierce.

Owl didn't thought hard, he knew what he was going to be, he was going to be a Thief.

"I have decided to be a Thief." said Owl.

" I see, well, this is going to sting real hard, brace yourself, Owl." said Dark Lord.

What Dark Lord said was right. Owl's body was emerged in a divine light that made him into a true traveler. The light gave him power yet he felt his bones was crushing into fine dust. It was a blessing and a curse. Owl shouted in extreme pain as the light was bright enough to light the whole room. Owl's body had traces of burns but it didn't bother Owl much.

"So..freaking..painful…." said Owl panting.

"Now for the 2nd stage." said Dark Lord as he raised his wings.

"Wha-" said Owl before getting into another stream of pain.

This time it lasted for 2 seconds and more painful. Owl was nearing to unconsciousness.

" This is no time to be knocked out, it is time to save some people. I just transferred my powers to you but it will only last half a minute. Think of it as a slight taste of your 4th advancement." said Dark Lord smirking.

"Understood." said Owl coldly.

Owl was like a god out of a womb. He dashed to the door and into the open air above the Victorian sky in half a second. There he sees the little battle fleet he saw before. It was time for revenge.

" Time for revenge." smirked Owl as his figure plunged down to the battle fleet.

Hundreds and hundreds of Crimson Balrogs were there, waiting to be slain. Owl was on top of the deck. Now his clothes completely changed into a full red Pirate Set with his owl mask. Owl's energy level was like over nine thousand. He was unstoppable, invincible and destructive. Owl didn't wait for a second as he started to kill every single of the Crimson Balrogs on the ship. His dash was invisible to the naked eye, he used a skill called Assasinate to kill them all.

Owl's reflexes were beyond godlike as it was sharp like a blade. Owl's little sword changed into a grand weapon called the Dragon Kreda. It was a majestic weapon only the most powerful and determined travelers can wield. Owl swiped here and there, his attacks were fast, very fast. Every Crimson Balrog faced their fate with worthless determination to kill the god-like Owl. The Crimson Balrogs slowly swiped the air as Owl has already swiped the Balrog slowly too, only a couple thousand times faster. Owl jumped from Crimson to Crimson as each of them died without realizing the uncountable blood-wounds on their bodies. Soon every Crimson Balrog was dead. Owl dropped a coin as he did a jump that sent him flying off the fleet.

"Meso Explosion." Owl said as the ship exploded creating a bright light fueled by the exploding fleet.

Now it was time for a rescue mission. Owl dashed through the air as if he was dashing through the ground. His very powerful pressure kick sent him flying towards Captain Shank's ship. In ten seconds, everyone on that ship was transported to Lith Harbor. The people didn't realized this until they saw Owl slowing down. Finally Owl's job was done. Owl's full body equipment was dissolving in the air. All was left was his mask and his regular clothes. His weapon of destruction became the common knife he used to wield. Owl's body was exhausted. Finally he can rest easy. The sound of a thud whispered through the air. Owl was at the verge of unconsciousness. _Finally…_ thought Owl. His mind and body able to rest from this incredible experience.

"_Owl!"_

" _Seiruu!"_

" _Owl, what's happening?! Owl? Owl!"_

" _Seiruu, I will conquer It no matter what."_

"Holy…" said Owl as he woke up from his nightmare.

"Awake already?" said a rough voice.

"Come on, greenhorn. We better get going."

"Wait, who the hell are you?" said Owl. As he lifted his head and shook it feeling an incredible migraine going on.

"Dark Lord's waiting. We better get moving, greenhorn." said the man.

"Would you…" said Owl as his sentence was cut. He felt a moving sensation. He suddenly realized he was in a bag with his head popping out at the end.

"The name's Sile. Sile Dominus." said Sile in an epic fashion.

"Name's Owl." said Owl, properly introducing.

"Now would you get me out of this large sack."

"No can do, you will soon know why." said Sile.

"Get ready kid."

Sile mumbled an incantation. Suddenly, a relief of windy air blew. In the hot rocks of Perion, Sile was gaining speed, he has used the incantation Haste. As Sile ran like the speed of a leopard, he was nearing a big canyon that can plunge both of them into the center of the world.

"Here's the big one, kid." said Sile, smirking as he did another incantation.

This time Sile suddenly jumped, as he jumped into the deep hole of the canyon, Owl heard a word coming from Sile's mouth, "Flash jump". A large circle formed below Sile's feet, what Owl can do was just see the whole event with his eyes. Gripping tighly the rope to the large sack, Sile and Owl flew four hundred feet above the ground. Owl felt sick as Sile and Owl safely reach the other side.

"Are we there yet…" said Owl in a complete state of dizziness.

"Oh boy, the fun's just starting." shouted Sile as they both sky rocketed above the ground again.

Half an hour later, Owl and Sile reached their destination, Kerning City. The foggy skies of the polluted metropolis has the odd stench of industrial waste. Sile released Owl from his tight sack that made Owl numb along the journey. Sile waved a goodbye as he flees off the cold hard blocks of Kerning City.

"I guess I'm here. Home sweet home." said Owl, gazing above the skies, the skies of his new home.

Kerning City was never pleasant with newcomers, and it will happen to Owl too. As Owl started to walk towards the secret bar where Dark Lord dwells, trouble arrives.

"Well, well. Look boys, fresh meat." said a rogue with blue hair.

A gang was clearly seen a few minutes. _Common rogues…_ thought Owl. Rogues ranging from level 20 to 30 is clearly seen.

"Hey small fry, when you come to Kerning City, you need to pay protection money, capiche?" said the blue-haired rogue, a level 28. Judging from his weapon, he's gonna be an Assassin.

" We don't want any trouble, I need to leave." said Owl, a slight nervous tension running through his sentence as he quickly left the spot.

"Not so fast." said the rogue. The rogue threw a star at Owl's leg. It bleeds the blood of Owl as he screamed in pain, he never felt anything like it.

"Aw, does baby need a tissue?" laughed the sadistic, blue-haired rogue, Owl got a good look at his tag, his name was Ferozene.

"Damn… I guess I need to fight my way…out of this…" staggered Owl as he took out his knife.

"So be it." whispered Ferozene.

As Owl was in a guarding pose, Ferozene threw a Kumbi star that immediately hit Owl's blade, making Owl off-balance and his knife flinging up the air. The knife hit Owl's left hand as Owl screamed in pain. Owl shed tears but his mask covered it whole. Soon, the whole gang of that sick rogue started to attack Owl. Owl couldn't do much, he was like a puppet on a string. Owl feels the pain as the rogues damaged his body to the full extent.

"I had enough of you damn bullies." shouted a raging voice.

"Shout!" shouted a person.

As a majestic blue tiger entity formed on the person's back, it let out a deafening roar that shook the whole area of Kerning City. Owl and Ferozene and the rest was blown away by the roar of the mighty entity. It was great timing, Owl was thrown into the bar where Dark Lord was.

" Something troubling you?" said Dark Lord as his voice broke the silence other than the sound of impact when Owl his the bathroom wall.

"Yeah, and it damn pisses me a lot." said Owl, moaning in pain.

"I guess you came here to see me, Owl" said Dark Lord.

"Yes I am, I am here to get my beginner's equipment like all the other people do." said Owl.

"I know. By the way, how are your wounds?" said Dark Lord

Owl realized it for a moment. His wounds were completely. Owl was amazed and shocked at the same time.

"How did…" said Owl in astonishment.

"The mask, my friend. The mask. It is actually a deity. It has chosen you to be its master." said Dark Lord.

"Why me?" asked Owl.

" Let's just say, you're someone special. And Owl, I suggest you try not to train or travel too much." said Dark Lord.

"What?!" said Owl furiously.

"I've been waiting all my life for this opportunity, to be a Thief, to achieve my goals. Is that what you do all day?! Encouraging newbies to get an early retirement life!?" shouted Owl.

Dark Lord sighed.

"I just hope you won't be disappointed when you find the truth one day." whispered Dark Lord.

A wind washed over Owl as where he stood. The wind got stronger and stronger.

"Oh, here's a personal tag. It is made of Mana and will update every time you level." said Dark Lord as he threw the tag right into Owl's hand. Owl then got blew away by the enormous force of the wind out into the open streets of Kerning City. Owl landed on his feet. Owl then checked his sack. There was two new weapons in it. A claw, a dagger and three sets of common Subi throwing stars.

"Nice."

"I guess this is my first day of training for me." said Owl as he tightens the claw on his right hand to begin a whole life of killing beasts. Finally, he can call himself a Thief.

**A/N:** Finally finished this chapter, wait for chapter 3 to come out, 2 months later. I do hope you like the non-canon thing.


	3. Purpose

**A/N:** There will be two scenarios with this chapter. First is Owl's and the other is Sile's. Enjoy people! I'm sorry if I'm slow with updates, but because I was SO occupied with everything around me, I didn't have time to write anymore. Right now since it's the holidays (Well almost! This week's Thursday is the last day of school), I'll try to make more stories as I can!

**NEW A/N:** That A/N was done half a year ago/ a year ago. It's now September 2009 and I'm having my exams. I hope I can finish this. And unlike the first A/N, there's no Sile scenario. Sorry!

A squeal was heard. At the back of a dead Orange Mushroom was a Subi star planted on its back. In the distance Owl was sniping a few Orange Mushrooms, one by one died as they left loot that seemed valuable in Owl's eyes. There were not a lot of people training. Most people turned away as soon as they saw this masked boy. Some people mustered enough courage to say hi to him, but they went to a certain distance after a few minutes of training with Owl's presence.

Owl must now endure the pressure of being an outcast. Owl might be just starting out but the endless discouragement, humility and the ignoring of his existence, was well, probably getting to his nerves. He might just bring out his psycho-killer personality out and unleash the powers of an Avatar with all the skills and powers of the four classes, but Owl's one patient person. _The more patient a man is, the more deadly he becomes…_ thought Owl in his mind.

Owl continued training, he wasn't that much excited with killing mushrooms for the next few months… but if it makes him stronger, he doesn't care, no arguments there. Being the strongest will be a long road for Owl as weak thieves dropped like flies here in Kerning City. Some have the will and power to be a potential thief, but the occasional poisoning from the haze that covers Kerning City, gang beatings, robberies, assassinations, scamming of Mesos, death threats and kidnap-torture methods would probably drive someone over the wall and crawl in a hole of unwilling procrastination.

But the case for Owl would probably be different. Well, it seemed that way….

Owl seemed to be training happily at his own pace and with his own personal space. One by one the Mushrooms died at the flick of a wrist of Owl's hand. He seemed to be enjoying his training and finally be happy being bestowed an early job advancement. While he happily killed away, an observant eye was watching him ever since Owl left Kerning City. That unknown figured seemed to have a scared left eye. The surrounding was quiet, no people, away from community and Owl's outcast status made things easier. And being like all regular stalkers of Kerning City, the shady figure shouted,

"Hey!"

Owl stopped what he was doing. Owl looked at his surroundings; he noticed a figure smiling a few meters away, on the first level of the construction building. Owl replied with,

"Hello? Who are you?"

"I'm of no importance." said the figure, seemingly to slowly revealing his figure.

The figure jumped down, landing swiftly on the concrete floor, is revealed to be an archer, with a scarred eye and a nice, shining, elegant bow. He wore differently, though. Out of all the archers that Owl have seen during his stay on Victoria Island that passed him like an invisible being, this is the only one wearing a black hat with dangling chains front and back, left and right of its oval structure. A black raincoat seems to be in place too. Coincidentally, it started to rain.

"People always seemed to tell me to prepare for the impossible." said the young man with an eye patch on his right eye.

Half than a second, an arrow was struck to the ground, a few centimeters away from where Owl was standing. Owl thought no further and was in an on-guard stance. With a deep long breath, the man started to speak.

"Are you Owl the Rogue?" said the man calmly, slowly facing the ground.

"Who wants to know?" answered Owl.

"I am Revan Egret of the assassin's guild. I am here to assassinate you." said the man, known as Revan Egret.

As soon as Owl heard the last sentence, he started to walk which quickly turned into a run for his life. Owl was shocked. Only level eight and some assassin was here to bring Owl's Coupe de Grace? It's crazy, but it was happening. Owl continued to run, until his leg was struck by one of Revan's arrows. Owl continued running more quickly, ignoring the pain with the rush of adrenaline to aid him with his escape. Without looking back and a minute later, Owl was finally reaching the outposts of Kerning City.

How grateful was he to see the good ol' haze and the deteriorating skyscrapers, with the evening sky turning darker. But it turned dark too fast. Owl noticed something was wrong, so very wrong. He looked up, and he couldn't believe his eyes. A black cloud or something, was heading down to Kerning City. By intuition, Owl thought it went down by god-speed. Owl felt that ever-so familiar habit, that is, a stinging fear and with his last ounces of physical energy, he ran at top speed to Kerning City while thinking of finding a safe spot to avoid the black cloud.

The black cloud was at least a mile long, and at first glance, it looked like it was going to hit the entrance of Kerning City. Owl still was maintaining his running speed as the black cloud reached closer to the ground. A few moments before the black cloud hit the ground, Owl jumped out of harm's way. And then he was propelled forward by a strong gush of slightly-acidic wind by the black cloud. Everyone near the entrance was blown away, but Owl was propelled the farthest. He landed near the edge of the concrete stairs that leads to the hair parlor.

Most people thought "What the hell was that?" in their minds when they saw Owl flying mercilessly through the air, but being like the average norm in a community, they decided to let that matter off and continue with their lives. Owl, got up and started to briskly walk in the direction of the impacted black cloud, he was shocked, so very shocked, again. The so called "cloud" was not actually a cloud. It was a few million bows radiating some sort of aura that made one uncomfortable. Everyone near the entrance looked at it and one even touched one of them. The person who touched it fell instantly ill and people started to rush him to the 's hospital.

Society was shocked, but how Owl felt was nothing compared to them. His head now has a price, a price that is worth more than a few million aura-radiating arrows. A price that might end his life today, tomorrow or next week, but Owl tried not to give thought about it. He then asked somebody close to him.

"Hello." said Owl, trying to be friendly as possible.

"Oh, hello owl boy." said a bystander.

"Do you know of any assassin's guild?" asked Owl.

"Assassin's guild…I think it's near here." answered the bystander, that is actually a swordswoman of a higher level.

"Where is it then?"

"Here."

"Here…?"

"Here!"

Owl was confused. Here he thought? Where could it possibly be? He thought the lady must be joking, well, he thought she was. He then saw what seemed to be the lady gathering energy for her sword to execute a stealthy Power Strike. Owl immediately dodged the blow, everyone near there was watching. People thought how in Victoria's name did these two started to fight? They were blurred, but to Owl, the answer was pretty obvious. Feeling the ground shaking after that Power Strike missed, a crater was created, still hot from the impact of the sword, Owl then knew that this person could at least overkill Owl with a blunt mace.

Owl thinking that there might be an atom's worth of hope; he tried to stab the lady in the chest. With a swift, fancy move, Owl tried to penetrate her armor. In the end, the knife bounced off like a rubber ball, she gave a laugh, a laugh full of egoistic pride with a swift head-toss. Her black armor unscratched, which gave off an illusion of glowing in the rain. Ex-scar on her left eye, she's probably from the same guild with that Revan guy.

She was overjoyed to have an easy kill, while laughing, she charged up her proudest skill, Combo. One by one the orbs appeared, radiating the same energy as those arrows. Owl now was very pissed off.

"You know what? Screw you." said Owl as he suddenly disappeared.

It's a good thing Owl learned Dark Sight while he was training. The swordswoman gave an unnoticeable smirk. She stood while Owl fled like the rogue he was.

"I like to play with my victims. Guess what? You're one of them." remarked the assassin as Owl fled away.

Owl could not stand it. What is with these people? Why are they trying to kill Owl? What in Balrog's name is happening? Owl was in no state of thinking up a possible theory; all he knew now was to do the basics of a prey, run and hide.

Owl fled towards the unfinished skyscraper construction that lied deep within Kerning City, a site that was planned to be the world's most advanced building, but like most buildings, the construction was never finished. Owl ran up the 3rd floor as dust and building materials were everywhere, but Owl did not stop, he wanted to know that he was surely, exceptionally safe.

Owl then continued up the 4th floor, the 5th floor and finally, halfway to the 6th floor. Owl needed a break and so, a short rest was bestowed to him, and he immediately fainted because of lost of blood. Owl was on the ground in a second as his gaze blurred, looking up to the rotted concrete ceiling, not before he saw an undefined figure making its way to Owl.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Owl woke up as he saw an old man dressed in a tattered robe. The man was sitting near a bonfire and Owl was near the fire as well. Owl noticed his leg got better and the dark arrow was extracted from his leg and was wrapped with a sweet-smelling bandage. Owl noticed the man as he was cooking up soup that's smell got Owl's attention. Owl then noticed he had a tattered robe as well but it looked more like a cape, it covered Owl's chest and the cape-like robe was perfectly long enough not to touch the ground. Owl immediately asked,

"Who are you?"

The old man looked wide-eyed with his left eye; he looked at Owl in such a manner that it made Owl feel he was in good hands.

"Are you hungry, stranger?"

"Who are you?"

"If you're hungry I have enough of this for the both of us, stranger."

"I said who are you!?"

Owl shouted with a horrid tone, Owl's not much of an angry person but when there are questions to be answered, he wants them to be answered immediately.

The old man returned to his cooking as reached out for two dirty bowls. He poured the soup into and gave one of the bowls to Owl.

"Drink this; it will make you feel better, stranger."

Owl then just took the bowl of soup and drank it slowly. He knew these type of people, cold, calm, collective and mysterious. Owl aspired to be one but his somehow raw personality got in the way. These kind people are ice-cold and are a tough nut to crack; Owl had no choice but to let it be.

After a few sips and a burp, the old man finally spoke,

"I bet you're interested in those assassins, eh, stranger?"

Owl shook his head in agreement, he thought this man would probably the answer to his problems, but the answer came with a price.

"You see stranger, these people are mysterious. I do not know them, yet I was one of their victims." said the old man.

"In my days, these people existed. Just think of them as a bully that will do anything to make you paralyzed, disfigured, disabled and so on."

The old man then turned towards Owl. The man had no right eye; all Owl can see was dried blood and an empty hole that gave an eerie glow under the moon's light. Owl was a bit disgusted and gave a small squeak. The man started to continue his story,

"You see stranger, I was an aspiring cleric, I was near my 2nd job advancement until well, things started to go rock bottom. While I was buying some potions at Ellinia, a couple of musclemen came and lit up the store in flames, everyone who was in queue was screaming as the store owners fled but died in the process. I was the only one left alive."

The man said as he coughed and drank the soup. Tears started to roll down on his left cheek, he continued the story.

"When they were ransacking the store, they found me hiding in the store room. I was dragged away as they placed a bag above my head. I was then thrown into a dark cell. The cell had no light and it was probably underground. I rotted there for months, even possibly for a year. Then, somebody opened the cell, I was relieved but it wasn't what I hoped it to be. They placed a bag over my head again and dragged me out into a rocky terrain. They took the bag above my head and forced me to look at the Sun. I was literally blinded and if that was worse not enough, they placed a monocle on my right eye. I shouted and shouted, but they kept kicking me and asked me to shut up, then somebody came and extracted my right eye using a dagger. The pain was immeasurable, stranger."

Owl felt pity for the old man. An aspiring magician's dream crushed by a bunch of barbarians. Owl knew these people are not worth forgiving. Owl then stood up as he walked away.

"But your torture's probably gonna be worse, stranger."

Owl stood for a moment and turned to the old man.

"I saw one of them trying to kill you, and I say your torture is going to be worse than mine." said the old man.

Owl didn't reply but he gave the old man something he wanted to hear.

"I will deliver your vengeance, one day, old man."

"Regrette." replied the old man as he drank his soup.

"I regret nothing."

"No, my name is Regrette."

"Regrette Nuevo the 4th."

Owl finally understood what he was saying.

"You see, Regrette, I will deliver your vengeance. I will stop these people who tortured you. I will end this madness and end your sadness as well."

"If you don't mind taking an extra task stranger, the person who took me, tortured me and took my eye was somebody called Phobos. He's still alive."

"Phobos, got it." said Owl as he descended down the stairs.

"And by the way, the name's Owl."

"And so it is, stranger."

The next morning, Owl trained with determination. He achieved level 9 after 14 hours of extreme training. Owl would run up a monster and kill it with ease. He then ran to another monster and continued the process. Strangely Owl did not felt any fatigue until the 13th hour. _Musta have been the brew that the old man gave…_ thought Owl. He then rests as he drank a red and a blue potion, Owl's fatigue quickly faded but he decided to take a rest. Owl's muscles were on the verge of paralysis. After some time Owl walked back to Kerning City as he finished collecting his drops. He sold the drops to the pharmacist and got a hefty 40,000 Mesos, Owl was overjoyed.

Owl walked out the shop with a nice bag filled with Mesos, but then trouble had a way following Owl, he was approached by the gang from yesterday, and this time their leader is a psychotic punk-haired Assassin.

"Attack attack attack attack attack…!" shouted the leader in a wild fashion as at least four dozen rogues tried to attack Owl.

Owl was left defenseless even with his new claw. He had no other choice but to run, he never liked backing out from a fight, but this fight might end with the same way how Regrette might have ended. Giving that possibility to budge into his head, Owl fled towards the top of Kerning City. He climbed to the rooftops as the barbaric rogues clamped to his feet but Owl loosen their grip as he jerked his foot and finally kicking the rogues in the face and let them fall to their deaths.

Nothing was easy for poor Owl, once he reached the top, a muscleman wielding a large Doombringer came closer to Owl.

"I do not wish to fight! Leave me alone!" shouted Owl as he side-stepped the man and continued jumping from building to building, in which he wasn't very good at and was still new at the experience. He occasionally slipped but avoided falling towards the ground which can't be seen because of the thick fog. Owl kept jumping and jumping till the leader of the gang caught up.

The red-haired lunatic jumped much higher as Owl concentrated on his urban running. Suddenly, when Owl tried to jump, he slipped but the leader got hold of Owl's tattered robe. They both were falling as Owl took out his knife and ready for an air-battle.

"Kill kill kill kill…!" shouted the psycho as he tried to fling a star at Owl. Since the law of gravity didn't permit that, Owl slashed the man again and again and again. The man was helpless as he was being continuously attacked Owl by his rapid succession of knife blows. The third blow actually knocked the man out, but the 19th blow probably made him into a bloody puppet.

Owl thought fast as he was getting nearer to the ground. Owl got a hold of the psycho leader and placed him under his feet. Dozens feet away at the bottom were rogues trying to catch their unknowingly dead leader. Owl braced for impact as he landed the ground with an enormous thud.

The rogues were groaning as Owl stood up. Everyone near the area witnessed how Owl survived the fall. Several people even said "Cool!" and "Awesome!" as Owl stepped on the injured rogues and went away from the scene. Unknowingly, Owl was not out of trouble yet, more rogues came to ambush Owl and this time they were mad at him for killing their fallen comrades.

"Die freak!" shouted a rogue as he tried to stab Owl.

Owl side-stepped as he reached for the rogue's hand, did an arm lock and immediately karate chopped the radius leaving the rogue with a bitter encounter with Owl. Several rogues came to Owl at once but he swiftly maneuvered their attacks and all of them were beaten with a Subi star sticking out of their forehead.

"I'm not in the mood for fighting." said Owl as he stood in front a large army of endless low-leveled rogues.

Owl thought this would be a good time to make a signature move. As Owl posed, he did a thumbs up and he ended it with a finished sign. The rogues were enraged as all of them started to attack Owl at once, all of them in that endless number of savages. But someone came to help Owl in his desperate time of need.

A large, bulky figure came out of hiding and stood in front of Owl, protecting him from the rogues' attack. If that wasn't enough, the large man started to gather his Mana as high-speed winds were coming towards him with a faintish blue effect. Owl then witnessed the power of a Crusader's paralyzing skill, Shout. A large blue entity formed on the man's back and every rogue was flown off their feet. The man then shouted,

"Attack !"

It was silent for a moment, as the rogues who were not paralyzed froze like their paralyzed comrades. What was puzzling through the heads of these rogues were an uprising and they were right, it was an uprising. Two Assassins appeared as four Ice & Lightning mages teleported to the scene. More came as a Dragon Knight ran with a loud thud with every step, Bandits appearing behind the shadows and immediately attacked the enemy and an unstoppable army appeared. The bravest were at front and the weakest at the back, including trainees.

The rogues shivered in fear as fire elements exploded the streets of Kerning City, burning the enemy to a fine crisp, large ice burgs bombarded everything in this path as tenth to hundreds of people were flying in the air, God-like roars ravaged through the city alleys, hundreds of stars sticking out of walls and pavements and lastly an uncontrollable blood frenzy among melee wielders. Owl was awed at everything happening at once but he quickly snapped out of it as the man that saved his life pulled him towards a nearby ally.

"I thank you for saving my life." said Owl in debt of the Crusader's acts.

"My name is Daevan." replied the large Crusader.

"I'm the one who saved you from yesterday too, ya know?"

"But we have no time for this. I need you to do something for me."

"What do you want?" said Owl.

"Those rogues you encountered are from a guild. It's a large one with a lot of members. Right now, the ratio of one person to the number of rogues are 1:45. The name of the guild is still unknown though."

"Wow, that is a lot." said Owl astonished.

"They do have a headquarters ya know. It is located at the southern part of Kerning City. Their headquarters connects to the route to go to Perion. Right now we have an uprising and we need you to help us to conquer the enemy's headquarters. You have amazing skill that I saw when you fought those thieves just now when you landed on top of those rogues, so we need you to assist us in our time of conquest." explained Daevan.

"I'll help then." agreed Owl.

Daevan gave a large wide smile. He sheathed his Doombringer on his back and went to the other side of the alley.

"To war!" shouted Daevan as he insisted Owl to follow.

"There will be other parties joining us! Come on, lad! We have one hell of a party!" shouted Daevan as he ran.

"By the way…" shouted Owl as he tried to catch up.

"…the name's Owl."

"Right this way!" said Daevan as he and Owl dashed from alley to alley avoiding the routes that would lead them into engaging in the war.

Right now Daevan wants to meet up with the other parties to successfully raid the unknown guild's headquarters. After a few allies Daevan and Owl eventually end up at a dead end.

"This isn't right… The rogues must have set us up!" said Daevan.

Suddenly a rogue climbed over the wall who is accompanied by three to four Dragon Knights. Daevan tried to paralyze them with Shout but it gave little effect towards the Dragon Knights, the rogue however was finished. The female Dragon Knights shook as they still are affected by Daevon's Shout but that didn't make them slow or even less powerful.

A Dragon Knight quickly tried to slash them with her polearm but smashed it into a wall instead. The other Dragon Knights tried to do the same but Daevan and Owl did a quick dodge-roll and ran out of the alley. The Dragon Knights aimlessly tried to hit Deavon and Owl with their polearms but ended up smashing it against the wall countless of times. When Daevon and Owl got out, the building surrounding the Dragon Knights collapsed and they were buried underneath.

Owl and Daevon ran on top of the debris, skipping across hundreds of bricks. At the end of a few minutes they got through the debris and continued their journey. As they ran through the alley they met up with their ally.

"Sera, nice to see you again!" said Daevan.

"Is this the scrawny guy everyone's been talking about? He doesn't look like a prodigy, just a boy with a dumb-looking mask." said Sera coldly.

"Maybe you should say hi or something." whispered Daevon to Owl's ear.

Owl didn't have a choice, if he wanted success in this raid, he needed teamwork, and a good way to start was to make friends with the team.

"Hi, I'm Owl." said Owl as he raised his hand, ready to shake her's.

"I don't shake hands with freaks like you, let's get going." said Sera coldly.

Owl stood there motionless as Sera walked away.

"She's something you are going to get used to."

"Don't let those words of hers get to you, she had a bad day." whispered Daevon again as he marched, following Sera.

Owl as well followed Daevon and Sera as they pass through alleys again.

When Owl, Daevon and Sera went into the streets, there were hundreds to thousands of enemy rogues fighting with the allied army. Bodies flew as sparks and freezing temperatures came amidst, shouts of agony can be heard as the battle raged on.

"Hey! Those rogues who have half of their balls, fight me!" said Sera as she went laughing while raising her hand into the air.

Sera smiled as her long brunette hair and red eyes gave her a beautiful yet deadly kind of persona. She then raised both of her hands and put them in front of her. The rogues charged at her like an army of ants. And just like ants, they were waiting to be squished.

"You better hide behind me, Owl." said Daevan.

Owl was done what he was told, as the rogues kept closing on her, she muttered,

"Bad choice."

"Welcome to Hell, boys."

And then she clapped.

Boom! Everything was on fire; she was a Fire & Poison Mage using her most powerful skill, Explosion. The Explosion was so powerful that every low-leveled rogue got disintegrated in a flash. Screams of horrible pain and agony was heard as every opposing rogue at that section of the area in Kerning City was sent to oblivion. The allied army's troops roared in glory as they continued their way towards the enemy's headquarters.

"You did a fine job, Sera." said a voice.

"It was nothing, brother." said Sera winking at someone who was standing behind Owl.

"Hello Owl, you've become quite famous these few days." said Sera's brother.

"It's quite a pleasure to meet you, I'm Septh, Sera's brother." said Septh.

Septh smiled at Owl with his long white hair and nice blue Seraphis robe, Sera was wearing black of the same robe. Septh greeted Daevan with a pat at the back as Daevan smiled in joy. Owl then started to wonder, so he asked Septh,

"What's with the raid of this enemy's headquarters? I don't understand at all." said Owl.

Septh's smile came down a bit as he explained.

"For years, this unknown guild has been killing potentially great adventurers. They torture these innocent souls and kill as I said, potentially great adventurers. They have been in our community for so long that everyone was afraid to go higher and better with their skills that they might be killed. We all became slaves of this anonymous guild." said Septh.

"But we've been training secretly below ground and improved our powers by capturing strong monsters and fighting them below. We gathered all the people who wanted to join our resistance but we weren't close enough to the numbers in the anonymous guild." said Daevon.

"We attacked anyway, but we had a 2nd plan if things don't work out well, which is gathering all the gifted and strong to raid the headquarters, which we are doing now, freak." said Sera, ending the speech coldly (who is getting on Owl's nerves).

"Right." said Owl.

"We need to go soon before another batch of those rogues attack us." said Septh.

"To war!" shouted Daevan.

"We don't have time to find the other members, we need to get to the attacking point, now." said Sera.

Owl was ready for anything now, he always wanted to be a hero and this is the chance. He then followed the trio into the dark alley, ready for another fight, another danger and another adventure.

Owl, Daevan, Sera and Septh arrived near the entrance of the assassin's guild's headquarters. It pretty much covered the whole perimeter of the whole gate towards Perion. Any innocent soul must pass through the tunnel that is made in the building and await their untimely demise. Owl took out his claw and was ready for action.

Below the city streets were hundreds of rogues ready for the attack of the allied army. Most of them had level 15 to level 30 clothes on and they were commanded by a leader that was standing far at the end of the army of rogues. His figure can't be seen clearly because of the hazy fog that covered Kerning City.

_Need help with the view? I can help._

"What? Thanks." muttered Owl.

His eye sight was greatly enhanced and Owl looked closely at the leader at the front of the pack.

"Damn!" cursed Owl.

"It's that Revan guy."

"You know Revan?!" said the trio of 3rd job elites.

"You must have a quite a price up your head, kid." said Sera.

"Revan doesn't kill anyone for fun. He kills his victims for Mesos. Lots of Mesos, usually above 1 billion." said Daevan.

"The last time he ever killed someone was a day ago." said Septh.

Owl was clearly in danger. If this Revan guy ever survives the raid, Owl might just be killed tomorrow. Owl wouldn't want this chance to pass, he will try with all his power to kill Revan Egret. Owl learned a few tricks when he was in the 14 hour-long training session, he thought it was best if he tried it out now.

"Daevan you go ahead down and kill every rogue you see."

"Sera, once Daevan clears the path to the entrance, go in and kill as you go up."

"Owl, follow me and we'll help the prisoners escape."

Septh's briefing was short and quick as he was a calm intellectual that prefers something straight to the point if it was a serious matter. Owl then waited for Daevan to attack as a blue flash whirled around Daevan, he was ready. Daevan jumped down and crushed two to three rogues under his feet. He immediately started to attack, he activated Combo.

One by one he slashed the rogues, some got their torso sliced while some of their heads got smashed to a pulp, Daevan was almost invincible. He was a massive colossus made of muscles and bone, he kept crushing those rogues and they dropped dead like flies. Daevan knew these low-leveled rogues were no match for him but the man up front is what he is really after; Revan.

"Revan! I have come for you!" shouted Daevan as he does the attack Coma that connected through each rogue till it reaches Revan who was knocked back the immense power, but only by a little bit.

"Why you little Crusader!" said Revan angrily as he charged up his dark bow.

Revan immediately attacked Daevan with Strafe but Daevan blocked it with ease. Unknowingly, arrows came underneath Daevan's feet. Daevan shouted in pain as he was lifted up by the enormous amount of dark arrows that emitted such evil aura.

"You had perfect timing, dear." said Revan.

"It was nothing, honey." said a female voice.

A blue-haired female with crossbow walked out of the building. A young lady with a crossbow at hand moved towards a panting Daevan. She locked another arrow into her crossbow as she pointed towards Daevan's head. Her eyes gave that cold look like any other elite member of the anonymous guild would give when one of them was that close to killing a high-profiled warrior.

The surroundings were still hasty with the rage of blood and gore as the rogues continued to fight off the resistance. The crossbow-wielding female was half a second away from pulling the trigger until something unexpected happened.

"Boom baby!"

Sera had teleported in front of the blue-haired attacker. Her hand gesture was in a pistol position as sparks of red and orange flared up on the index finger tip. Her hand was directly in front of the crossbow elites face as she consumed more Mana for a very, very death-guaranteed Fire Arrow. The now-scared defendant's pupils shrunk as the flame got brighter, and then the moment had happened.

The Fire Arrow blasted off her finger and hit right in the forehead of the frightened defendant. She dropped her crossbow as she covered her face while Revan ran to her to inspect if she was okay. Sera grabbed Devan and teleported inside the gate.

"First part's gone, now for the second." said the somehow eccentric Sera as she blasted off a more powerful Fire Arrow. The elemental arrow flew, giving fear to the surrounding enemies as they thought this might be the last time they'll see Kerning City as it is; currently filled with terror and courage.

However, their minds shook it off as the Fire Arrow didn't hit anybody; it merely was launched to the sky. Some of the rogues laughed as they continued their fight, but unknown to them, that was actually the beginning of the end; it was a signal for all of the resistance to gather and zip across to the gates of the unknown guild.

"It is time." muttered Septh.

Septh pressed lightly on Owl's shoulders as Mana surrounded the two under a fraction of a second warp. They were now inside the headquarters as Septh signaled Owl to come with him down under the headquarters and into the vile chambers where they kept their prisoners. As Septh teleported, the rush of thousands of energetic allies came in and swooped Owl off his feet.

Owl looked at Septh helplessly as Owl was pushed by the bloodlust-filled crowd. It was a tragic moment where Owl couldn't follow Septh's orders, and even a more tragic event was occurring as Owl was on the front lines, endlessly being pushed by his patrons into the space-limited battlefield.

Owl looked in front of him to see more despicable rogues ready for the final showdown. As Owl had nothing to do with his claw, he took it out and a spirit of courage possessed him to wear it with pride, in which he readied dozens of stars for the soon-to-be-targeted rogues.

His face filled with determination but could not be seen as his face was covered by his mask. He ran faster than his allied army and gave a booming war cry and jumped in mid-air. He gripped his stars more tightly than before as his claw shook in adrenaline-fueled fury. Owl felt as if time stopped when he jumped. The experience of being in a war was finally paid in full; he had now became among the thousands of soldiers fighting in the common war, trying to protect their homeland from being demolished by an evil force.

Then, time started moving. Faster and faster as Owl saw the frenzy-filled rogues cracking their knuckles, clutching the hilt of their daggers and trying to aim Owl with their fresh Subis bought from the store, but to Owl, they were mere nothing. Absolutely _nothing_.

Owl saw this as an opportunity, the will to succeed synchronized perfectly to the situation. As Owl fell into the middle of the deathly army of countless of rogues, the whole dream of what the evil forces had pictured as their utopia… fell apart almost instantly.

Wild stars rose into the air accompanied with flying bodies of shocked rogues. Small in power, but massive in will; that's the only thing Owl needed to defeat these rogues. In fact, it's the only the he needed to defeat the entire frickin' army.

Owl's forces were moving in for the kill as the shocked rogues that were not flung by Owl got a surprise shot from the frontline warriors. The battle grew on a massive scale as more swords and arrows, magic and stars came in large numbers, clashing into each other like raging bulls.

Owl's incredible publicity stunt gave a tremendous boost in morale which overall helped the army to withstand the pressure of dealing an army that is more than forty times larger. Owl ran to the top of the stairs as he jumped onto a rogue and killed another at the same time.

His blood boiled by the devil, Owl continued up to the staircase where he thought the grand leader was at the top. He charged with all his might as he slashed lesser and ran faster towards the top with his anxiety racing in his veins.

He was as fast as lightning; dazzling the incoming attackers with his swift movements. The final floor was at sight, Owl finally was able to meet the grand boss. He threw his stars in random directions to make his presence alerted by the grand schemer as he propelled on the last floor.

Owl however, was not pleased. There was no grand boss, just an empty floor with dead bodies. Owl had done a great mistake which could cost him his short career. Owl panicked as he jumped to the staircase, but unknown to Owl, there was a 3rd tragedy that would strike him.

The roof of the anonymous guild collapsed. Owl was pushed by the enigmatic blast into the free-falling air, in which he had missed his target of landing on the staircase. Clearly, the disaster he was in was entirely his fault, not caused by Septh, Daevan or even Sera. Owl had no hope for this one, as his massive willpower wouldn't save him from having crushed bones and splattered body parts in the morning.

The end came close for Owl as it felt as if it took no longer than half of a second to reach an inch from the ground. Owl didn't close his eyes as there was no chance for a miracle to come so abruptly.

And guess what? Owl was wrong. The only thing that came down with a splash was the flying rogues that were unfortunate enough to be near the staircase. Owl felt an incredible tingling sensation surrounding every square inch of his body. He finally knew what it was. The mask. It was the mask.

However, things did not end there. Owl was incredibly relieved and kneeled on the ground as Owl chanted 'Thank you' in his mind to appreciate the hard work of the enigma-filled Owl mask. And just like everything else, for every good thing, there was a bad thing. Owl's case was no different.

The stench of death approached in front of Owl as Revan aimed at Owl's head. The only thing that the Owl mask didn't possess was invincibility; moreover, this was at short range, the mask would probably break on impact.

"Time and time again, kid… You keep dodging my arrow of fate." said Revan in a very solemn tone.

"I'll put in enough arrows in your thick skull that even the Bishops can't revive you." muttered Revan as he readied the ultimatum that would end Owl in a short, quick instant.

Somehow, fate didn't allow that. As Revan gave the string a final stretch, a booming voice came in. A cloaked figure walked solemnly towards Revan. Some whimsical wind blew off the cloak he was wearing. As he approached in a stomping fashion, he quickly guided a Holy Arrow towards Revan.

"You're way over your head, stranger." said Regrette.

It dawned upon Owl he really was way over his head, being saved time and time again, but this time, he was really thankful as this current salvation could be the best he had experienced out of all the others.

Revan took the shot like a man and only flinched at it. He took out 3 arrows and grinned angrily at Regrette. Being the experienced veteran of the majestic bow and arrow, he shot it quickly and the energetic trio of pointed arrows almost instantaneously flew towards Regrette.

To Regrette, the battle was far from over. He dodged it with ease, carrying his brittle wand as a weapon. He threw it at Revan and it hit directly at his stomach. Revan growled as he lowered his guard. Finally, Regrette could get another shot at the damned archer. Regrette gave way to his other skill, Shining Ray. On top of Revan's head was converted Mana energy, ready to pulverize the living daylights out of Revan.

Revan however was not the kind of person that would let such cheap shots get on so easily. In contrast, Revan already called a very lively field of dark arrows to his aid. Both of the magically-powered attacks clashed and gave a very powerful shockwave. All was lost during the moments where magic atoms clashed; floor tiles were gone, pillars were crushed and gravity was lost for more than a minute.

As they floated, Revan felt the helplessness of being afloat in mid-air. This gave Regrette the chance to end it all with a mighty and superbly powerful Shining Ray. The atoms gathered not on top of Revan, but all around him in a messy fashion as the anti-gravity didn't let the atoms to form a destructive circle above Revan's head.

Regrette, now found out as a decent priest, gathered more streaks of energy to fully pulverize Revan chunk by chunk, bits to bits, ashes to ashes and atom by damned atom. It wasn't that long for Regrette to say the famous words of a normal priest.

"Shining Ray."

The casting was executed perfectly. The Mana finally converted into light energy pierced like burning arrows and into Revan's right chest. It was inaccurate and really not well-worth it. As the victim of the Shining Ray panicked and gasped for air, he his very own famous words too.

"Arrow…Rain…"

Caste as perfect as the priest, dark arrows came down like a mass of individual rain drops. The arrows however went in random directions as gravity was not at their side. But some of them hit Regrette's heart 5 times in a row. With no power or significant will… Regrette let it all go out all at once.

"I can't…save myself …stranger… But always remember… If you feel a certain peace…prepare for war…"

Owl saw the battle just a few meters away, he saw Regrette doing an 'OK' gesture as a sign of things will be alright. But everything will not be alright. The dirge hummed through Owl's head. Somewhere deep in Owl's mind, Owl vowed to avenge the dead priest, but the man who killed Regrette had already been killed as well… So there was only one more thing to go after for Owl.

"I'll get Phobos." said Owl and in friendly-mocking sense, did the same 'OK' gesture.

In the end, there was nothing in a war that could tear apart a person other than the war itself. The realization came swift and lightly and unfortunately, it came tragically as well. Owl now knew the world was not only mindless, but insane as well.

The 3 bodies, with one still breathing carried on to the heavens where the cold winds gave Owl that certain shudder. He felt it as if world was looking upon him as he was carried up high into the clouds, where the evil headquarters of the unnamed guild seemed to be like a speck of dust in Owl's eyes.

His eyes closed like how a newborn child would close them; slowly and sweetly. Before he had them shut completely, he saw, in his own small vision, the smile of Regrette. He felt strangely relieved, as if that smile gave Owl a somewhat whimsical feeling of peace. But like what Regrette said, if he felt peace, then prepare for war.

Owl in his little mind played a small film role of memories, returning before all of this events happened where the scenery was almost magical on the happy fields of Amherst. He was playing with himself as a stranger passed by, muttering a chant that made Owl's current life look somehow connected to it. The old man stared at Owl's complexion as his eye ran through Owl's eyes like a scanner.

"There is no heaven before hell…there is no heaven before hell…"

He said it as he went away, as if he just stared at a bush and quickly turned away his attention. Owl now finally understands; Regrette was no ordinary man, he was an angel of revelations. A supporter in his life, although he had quite a short interview with this old man, but he had understood his minimal purpose. And this purpose was no other to find a purpose in Owl's life. A purpose to start the spark of a certain peace before war, a universal truth where there is actually a hell before a heaven.

Owl now had a purpose.

**17 September 2009 A/N:** Finally, a purpose or a placebo purpose in this somewhat dead story! Been bugging me for a year!


End file.
